Raymond Chandler: The Long Goodbye (Dramatised)

By: Raymond Chandler

Narrated by: Toby Stephens, Trevor White, Saskia Reeves, Peter Polycarpou, James Lailey, Simon Bubb, Alun Raglan

Length: 1 hr and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

A brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of a classic Raymond Chandler mystery featuring private eye, Philip Marlowe.

Down-and-out drunk Terry Lennox has a problem: his millionaire wife is dead and he needs to get out of LA fast. So he turns to his only friend in the world: Philip Marlowe, Private Investigator. He’s willing to help a man down on his luck, but later, Lennox commits suicide in Mexico and things start to turn nasty. Marlowe finds himself drawn into a sordid crowd of adulterers and alcoholics in LA’s Idle Valley, where the rich are suffering one big suntanned hangover. Marlowe is sure Lennox didn’t kill his wife, but how many more stiffs will turn up before he gets to the truth?

©2011 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2011 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Great classic work

I’m a fan of Mr. Chandler and this story hits all his beats! Well done all around.

Just what you'ld expect from Chandler

Dramatisation is certainly more fun than a single reader's voice. Reader's chosen well and great material.

Enjoyable Noir. Well Produced.

Where does Raymond Chandler: The Long Goodbye (Dramatised) rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In the upper third. These dramatized Chandler tales aren't not long enough to spend a full credit on, but they are entertaining enough to pay the small price Audible asks for them.

What did you like best about this story?

The dramatization. These abridge shorts are very well made.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

I really like the background sounds (a clink of a glass, the click of a gun, etc.)

Any additional comments?

Bought this one and then started collecting some of the others. I'm up to three of these now, and can see myself buying a few more.

A Great Way To Spend One & A Half Hours

Any additional comments?

I'm a huge fan of those old radio plays from the 40's & 50's so at first I was a bit skeptical that they could re-create what is now an entirely lost artform. But I was blown away by how wonderful a job they did at producing that same feeling while listening. The acting, music, sound effects & overall production all contributed to a really great translation of Raymond Chandler's book into the different medium.

Toby Stephens is no Ed Bishop

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Better actors, full production elements, sound effects, and a longer less condensed version of the story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Phillip Marlowe-however this rather amaterurish version of Marlowe doesn't work.

What didn’t you like about the narrators’s performance?

The narrator tried too hard to evoke a film noir influenced style to his read. It was not only ineffective it was style over substance. The beauty of any Chandler book is the words, the late Ed Bishop who performed these same stories in the 1970's on BBC articulated and emphasized with ease the language and attitude of Chandler. Toby has the pipes but gets lost by not understanding the context of the character. It's especially annoying with the inferior mix of audio, a lot of background bursts of voices which are mere fragments of the original production, The whole production although sharp in some sections sounds too post modern and ironic.

What character would you cut from Raymond Chandler: The Long Goodbye (Dramatised)?

That should read what actor? The gentlemen playing Terry Lennox was horiffic, sounded like a 17 year old boy. No Jim Bouton.

Any additional comments?

Unfortunately Ed Bishop has passed, and the original 1970's era actors and producers are likely not available. I admire the fact that you would take this task on and Toby is talented, but not ready to step in Ed's shoes. As for the paired down production elements and lesser actors it's a real disappointment. Instead-reissue the superior production from the 1970's. The producers should have offered the lead to Elliot Gould who besides being a great actor, is a huge chandler fan and the star of the 1973 film adaptation of the book.

Lifeless Goodbye

So disappointing was this story that I didn't bother listening to the ending. Predictable and slow. I usually love the Raymond Chandler stories with Philip Marlowe so I was surprised and bored. I will think again before ordering another.